Found In Michigan 2 HPNOVO

2 HP NOVO

Steve P. Frasl

| November/December 1987

524 No. 4th Street Brainerd, MN 56401

Here is a picture of my 2 HP Novo upright-I'd like to share
its history. The engine was built sometime before 1919 in Lansing,
Michigan. It has a buzz box coil and hit and miss governor. The
serial no. is 19950 and it runs at 625 rpms. I first saw an upright
Novo at a steam show in Central Minnesota and I decided I had to
have one. Later the same fall I started looking at the ads in GEM
and made a few calls but the ones I found were either bigger than I
wanted, or in very poor condition. Finally, I ran across an ad that
was for a twin cylinder Novo and I decided to give it another try
so I called Gene Hartwig in Hadley, Michigan and asked him about a
Novo upright and if he knew where I could get one. He said,
'Well, I have one but I hadn't thought about selling
it.' So I said, 'Well, think about it and I'll call
back in a few days.' When I called him back and asked if he had
thought about selling it, he said he would, so we discussed price
and came to an agreement. Gene said he would send me a picture of
it to be sure it was what I wanted. In a couple of days, I got the
picture and it was just what I wanted so I called him back and
said, 'Ship it out as soon as you can.'

Gene shipped it out on a Monday morning and I got it the same
Friday. It sat the rest of the winter and in the summer of '82
I restored as you see it here. The engine was originally used in a
mine to pump air into a small mine. In 1969 Gene Hartwig's
brother Bob retrieved it along with a hot bulb engine that he was
more interested in. It was in Copper Basin, Arizona and when he
brought it out of the shack it saw daylight for the first time in
50 years. Bob brought it back to Michigan with the hot bulb engine
he named 'Annie' that was used to pump water out of the
mine. This engine can be seen every September at Albany Pioneer
Days in Albany, Minnesota. The show is put on 2 weekends after
Labor Day each year. The show is sponsored by Stearns Co. Pioneer
Club and is one of the finest shows I've ever seen. If anyone
is in the area during the show-time, please stop and see it. You
will find it worth your time and we would be glad to see all fellow
engine collectors.

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